West Milford town council calls for Highlands compensation, local support

The Township Council is devising plans to get state legislators in line with its view of the Highlands Act.

West Milford Councilwoman Ada Erik said locals should turn their representatives' heads by showing up en masse in Trenton to make their case for compensation for the impact of the decade-old act's development restrictions.

"There's strength in numbers. There's safety in numbers. It worked before, twice before, when we went down to Trenton to lobby for watershed aid, a different type of aid," Erik said.

"It might be time to start a revolution and go down in numbers," she added. "They have no idea what it takes to live within the Highlands Act."

The state's Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act of 2004 was designed to protect the water that quenches the needs of roughly two-thirds of New Jersey's population. To do so, however, it curtailed development in a region that covers 17 percent of the state.

As a result, Erik said the township, which lies entirely within the more strictly regulated of the two Highlands zones, has a problem. People invested in properties that have "been rendered basically useless" as a result of the loss of development potential demanded by the act, Erik said. Moreover, landowners have not been properly compensated by the state for harboring the watershed that supplies downstream residents and fattens the pockets of reservoir owners, who now pay less in taxes on their vacant, undevelopable parcels, she said.

Councilwoman CarlLa Horton said there is a desire in West Milford and other parts of the scenic Highlands region to limit environmental destruction via development – just not at the expense of the town and its residents.

"Not being able to have two homes on 20-something acres is, to me, just a slap in the face. And what it does is it takes people away from supporting something that I think is a very important thing to do, which is protect the water supply for people in our state. Whether we pay for that or not, that innately is a valuable thing to do," Horton said.

"But we should not be left holding the bag for the 65 percent of people who benefit from that," she added.

The act established mechanisms to compensate towns for land utilized for the protection of a public water supply as well as act-related assessment reductions on vacant lands. However, they have been lacking, according to local representatives. Only those giving away the commodity known as water seem to care, Erik said. But that is the way inequity usually works, she added.

To help make its case, the Township Council tasked its attorney with digging up information on the economic impact of the Highlands Act on West Milford over the last decade during its June 4 meeting.

"Then we can maybe start moving in a direction to help the taxpayers here," Council President Vivienne Erk said.

The Council also agreed to send a letter to legislators and the governor referencing the "stranglehold" the act has on the region. That letter could be rewritten as a form letter to post on the municipal website that residents could adopt or adapt, according to council members.

Councilwoman Michele Dale said she would like the letter included with township tax notices, along with a primer asking residents interested in lowering their tax bills to send it to local legislators.

"I would love for that to happen because then every time we hear about our taxes being high I could direct everyone to go there and explain how much it would help," Dale said. "I think we need to start making the public aware of how they can help us help them."